Need the OP to provide more info. Did he knock the mirror off deliberately or by accident? The story reads to me as if knocking the mirror off was not deliberate. Most likely it was not damaged anyway and the driver merely had to snap it back on.

I rode through London one time on my XS650, lane splitting all the way. Several times, my GF on the back gave me a big punch between the shoulder blades. She only told me later that she kept hitting her knees on mirrors. I had got so used to the notion that if my handlebars would go through a gap, I was good, and hadn't realized that she was now the widest part of the bike.

oh no, no deliberate at all. and maybe for all the action going on the mirror did in fact not break? i know the glass did not. and you are right, these days the housings are made to twist and turn and snap around in all directions. so maybe it was just knocked for a violent loop and was indeed back in place as i rode by. at glance it sure looked f'd, though

but i in fact tried to avoid it. could not do it. interesting to note my hand didn't hit it although on the grip, obviously. so perhaps the brake handle hit it? no damage on either so can't tell

guess i feel OK about it now that i've slept on it. i saw the drivers eyes as we are told to look at in their mirrors. i know they saw me and moved in intentionally. as said the mirror sort of did cut me off, silly as that might sound. nowhere to move, they just angled the car my direction as they crept along. and not in a subtle manner. happened in seconds, of course. but a lot happens in seconds when riding. especially accidents and things

oh no, no deliberate at all. and maybe for all the action going on the mirror did in fact not break? i know the glass did not. and you are right, these days the housings are made to twist and turn and snap around in all directions. so maybe it was just knocked for a violent loop and was indeed back in place as i rode by. at glance it sure looked f'd, though

but i in fact tried to avoid it. could not do it. interesting to note my hand didn't hit it although on the grip, obviously. so perhaps the brake handle hit it? no damage on either so can't tell

guess i feel OK about it now that i've slept on it. i saw the drivers eyes as we are told to look at in their mirrors. i know they saw me and moved in intentionally. as said the mirror sort of did cut me off, silly as that might sound. nowhere to move, they just angled the car my direction as they crept along. and not in a subtle manner. happened in seconds, of course. but a lot happens in seconds when riding. especially accidents and things

Eye contact does not mean they see you. That's a good way to get run over. Watch the wheels.

If you felt 100% OK about it, you wouldn't have made this thread or continued with all this rationalization about whether the mirror was really damaged (could you tell this looking backwards at it for 2 seconds?) . My own confession: I once clipped a mirror splitting in SF and rode on before I really processed what happened. It wasn't right, next time I'll stop.

Relatedly, how often are these people actually trying to smash up a motorcycle? I think that is a little insane for most people. The simplest explanation is that they're an inattentive driver drifting or thinking about squeezing into a different lane. Although they certainly have a reason to hate motorcycles now :)

If you had stopped-
The driver of the car would have been found at fault for making an unsafe turning movement. 22107 CVC. Infraction

Since you fled-
Because of the fact you fled the scene of a collision with visible damage, you would have been found in violation of hit and run. 20002 CVC. Misdemeanor.

Bingo.

Pull over, and call it in as an assault, since he tried to run you off the road. With no proof of intent, it would be reduced to a ticket for unsafe turning. More importantly, the incident would scare him straight and provide an opportunity for him to be educated on the legality of lane splitting.

All that said, you probably did the safest thing. If you had pulled over, he could have rammed you with his car, or chose some other form of road rage.

Eye contact does not mean they see you. That's a good way to get run over. Watch the wheels.

If you felt 100% OK about it, you wouldn't have made this thread or continued with all this rationalization about whether the mirror was really damaged (could you tell this looking backwards at it for 2 seconds?) . My own confession: I once clipped a mirror splitting in SF and rode on before I really processed what happened. It wasn't right, next time I'll stop.

Relatedly, how often are these people actually trying to smash up a motorcycle? I think that is a little insane for most people. The simplest explanation is that they're an inattentive driver drifting or thinking about squeezing into a different lane. Although they certainly have a reason to hate motorcycles now :)

well it does not mean they see you, but it does mean they can see you. when lane splitting i am always looking in front of me as that is where i am going and i notice the eyes of drivers as i come upon them. they are often startled but these were steady

i did not feel 100% ok about it when i made the thread. but as i posted above i am ok with it now, the next day. i am using the thread to rationalize some things, yes. as a rider. and taking in the opinions of others. the car moved readily over the white line as i came to pass although surrounded by other cars. it got some damage for being inattentive, dumb, or reckless one way or another. i am a careful rider which is why the offending car's mirror got whacked and not the innocent car to my left where i was being aggressively pushed for whatever reason. doesn't matter the reason, there it is all the same

will i stop next time? i will take it as it comes but do not expect it to come very often. i am inches from cars for miles and miles on my daily commute so hitting mirrors should be least on my mind. the risks, whatever they are, come with the territory

i'm all rationalized out, now

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimVonBaden

Not nearly enough info to find fault. That said, if the driver was in his lane, how can he be at fault? Maybe the guy next to him swerved a bit to avoid a pot hole and he swerved in reaction?

This is one of the reasons lane splitting is only not illegal in one state IMHO.

Jim

PS I am not against lane splitting.

yeah its really not that big a deal, the lane splitting. all kinds of dangers on the road for all of us. and as i posted above just a couple inches more room and i don't hit anything. heck, an inch more room. but it is what it is out there sometimes, i suppose

well it does not mean they see you, but it does mean they can see you. when lane splitting i am always looking in front of me as that is where i am going and i notice the eyes of drivers as i come upon them. they are often startled but these were steady

i did not feel 100% ok about it when i made the thread. but as i posted above i am ok with it now, the next day. i am using the thread to rationalize some things, yes. as a rider. and taking in the opinions of others. the car moved readily over the white line as i came to pass although surrounded by other cars. it got some damage for being inattentive, dumb, or reckless one way or another. i am a careful rider which is why the offending car's mirror got whacked and not the innocent car to my left where i was being aggressively pushed for whatever reason. doesn't matter the reason, there it is all the same

will i stop next time? i will take it as it comes but do not expect it to come very often. i am inches from cars for miles and miles on my daily commute so hitting mirrors should be least on my mind. the risks, whatever they are, come with the territory

i'm all rationalized out, now

yeah its really not that big a deal, the lane splitting. all kinds of dangers on the road for all of us. and as i posted above just a couple inches more room and i don't hit anything. heck, an inch more room. but it is what it is out there sometimes, i suppose

Why didn't you say it crossed the white line in your first post? Are you just saying that now to rationalize YOUR mistake?

well it does not mean they see you, but it does mean they can see you. when lane splitting i am always looking in front of me as that is where i am going and i notice the eyes of drivers as i come upon them. they are often startled but these were steady

True enough, but it's cold comfort to know 'that guy COULD have seen me' as you're flying through the air. Again, even if they're steadily staring at you, it doesn't mean they actually see/register that you are there.

I was commuting one day on my '07 RT and had a guy with a brand new truck veer into my path from my right as I was approaching during a lane split; legal in CA. He returned to his lane and then rethought the situation.

The truck driver (I didn't mention that the truck was new enough to have paper plates.) then pulled across my bow into the #1 lane to my left. I was forced to hit the brakes to interrupt the impending collision.

"Shit! That was deliberate!"

Cued by the memory of a friend (during a similar circumstance we encountered together when he was in the lead), I slapped the truck's right outer mirror as hard as I felt I could without causing me personal injury.

I looked in my left mirror to see the damage. I didn't see any, but my goal was to cause paint damage to the a-pillar. He totally deserved it.

I would do it again given the same circumstances.

I did look for him from that time forth, but I never saw him again.

__________________
-Sticks and stones, love.
-Insurmountable problems exist in the imaginations of the less traveled.

I was commuting one day on my '07 RT and had a guy with a brand new truck veer into my path from my right as I was approaching during a lane split; legal in CA. He returned to his lane and then rethought the situation.

The truck driver (I didn't mention that the truck was new enough to have paper plates.) then pulled across my bow into the #1 lane to my left. I was forced to hit the brakes to interrupt the impending collision.

"Shit! That was deliberate!"

Cued by the memory of a friend (during a similar circumstance we encountered together when he was in the lead), I slapped the truck's right outer mirror as hard as I felt I could without causing me personal injury.

I looked in my left mirror to see the damage. I didn't see any, but my goal was to cause paint damage to the a-pillar. He totally deserved it.

I would do it again given the same circumstances.

I did look for him from that time forth, but I never saw him again.

Quite a different world than central Vermont. The only lane splitting I do is when traffic is stopped. Then I do it slowly, on the shoulder. We don't have the wide open spaces here, turns and hills are fairly constant. But mainly the attitude expressed here is alien. If I got assertive in traffic, I would be setting myself up for some surprises 'down the road.' I experience my share of scares while driving, but avoid the role of punisher because I am so vulnerable on a bike. Buckminster Fuller once said, "If you are going to impute malice in the actions of others, you will never get anywhere in your thinking."

Are you certain it was intentional? it's not unusual for drivers to drift in the direction they're looking.

The squeeze, intentional or unintentional, if done ahead of you where you can see it coming would place the responsibility on the rider to not continue splitting. Pressing an unsafe split is illegal and foolish.

If the squeeze was intentional and aimed at you rather than ahead of you, that's a sign of a seriously dysfunctional person, not stopping is reasonable, and the law allows for that, but you are still responsible to report it.

__________________
"Take care, sir," cried Sancho. "Those over there are not giants but windmills".

Just keep going. Most of the drivers down here honestly don't give a shit about anything except their own self interest and will lie to cops and insurance companies if you stop and will try to blame you in any case.

If they hit you, you're fucked and they might have a few new scratches. You are ok as a motorcyclist to keep going on a karma basis.

I have had several drivers swerve at me while lanesplitting, deliberately. They're just pissed you're saving time and they're not. Fuck em, they just threatened my life. Tried stopping one time at a light with one asshole and it did not end well. The guy actually thought it was ok to almost hit me on purpose-never even touched him, just passed him in stopped traffic.

I also have dragged plastic givi panniers and clipped more than my share of mirrors. Kept going, as I know the drivers will lie and attempt to scam my insurance company. Welcome to Socal.